671
Carl M. Mydans
A Sheep Dog Would Think Twice Before Barking at This Box Turtle's Ancestors
Archelon, a three-ton marine turtle of the Cretaceous period, swam seas that covered Kansas. More
recently (about a million years ago), Colossochelys atlas, a turtle three feet tall, roamed the Siwalik Range
of northern India. Box turtles are common throughout the eastern and central United States.
similarly hinged lower shell. Its upper jaw
is deeply notched and its shell is flattened,
whereas the box turtles have hooked beaks
and highly arched, domelike shells.
The Blanding's lives in ponds and marshes
in the north-central States, east to Ontario,
Ohio, and northwestern Pennsylvania. Al
though timid when first taken, it readily
adjusts to captivity. It is one of the least
aggressive of turtles and seldom bites, even
when teased.
One of our handsomest species is Troost's
turtle (Pseudemys troostii) from the upper
Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. The side of
the head and neck bears a bright-red streak
flanked by black and yellow lines (page 675).
The young Troost's shell is greenish; the
adult's is much darker-deep brown, almost
without shell pattern in the male, light brown
ish-gray with a yellowish bar in the center
of each scale in the female. The red mark
on the neck remains throughout life.
Nose-tickling Courtship
When they are about seven inches long,
Troost's turtles are mature enough to breed.
Their courtship is most interesting. The
male swims in front of the female and vibrates
the long nails on his forelimbs against her
nose or chin for a second or two. He repeats
this stroking action at short intervals.
Although the female appears disdainful of
these antics, they eventually break down her
resistance and mating takes place.
Since water turtles shed the outer layer
of the shell as they grow, there is no definite
way of telling the age of wild-caught adults.
The best clue to telling the sexes apart is the
fact that male water turtles have a longer
tail and, in most species, proportionately
longer fingernails than the female.
The Florida turtle (Pseudemys floridana)
is a larger and less colorful edition of the
Troost's. It reaches a total length of 11
inches and has black and yellow lines on the
neck. It abounds in lakes, rivers, large
swamps, and streams from North Carolina
and Florida to Mississippi.
Bears, raccoons, and many other animals,
including man himself, dig in the sandy banks
where these turtles lay their eggs.
King
snakes, too, devour them.
The red-bellied turtle (Pseudemys rubri
ventris) is still larger than the Florida species;
a shell length of 18 inches has been reported.
Instead of being yellow, as in Troost's and
Florida turtles, the lower shell of this species
has a reddish hue; hence its common name
(page 675).
Today the red-bellied ranges along the
Atlantic Coastal Plain from northern North
Carolina to central New Jersey. A century
ago it was found also in southeastern New
York and along the Delaware River to Tren
ton, but its use for food caused its extermi
nation in that part of its original range. Re
mains found in shell heaps near many pre
Columbian village sites show that this and
other large turtles long were used as food by
Indians.
Another pet-store favorite is the yellow
bellied turtle (Pseudemys scripta), native from